Iron Man: A Christmas Story
by crazytomboy78
Summary: When Tony reveals that he hates Christmas, Pepper tries to get him into the Christmas spirit. Will a mysterious person's even more mysterious entrance do anything? And what will the mistletoe play role in? Lots-o-Pepperony! R&R pleezzz and thankss :
1. Chapter 1

**Hey peoples! I do not own anything. Just wanted yallz to know that.**

**Pepper: Hey! I heard you usually take really long with this part.**

**Me: HEY! Manny told you that, didn't he?**

**Pepper: NO…….maybe!**

**Me: aagghhh…..*sighs* come with me. ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Iron Man: A Christmas Story**

The boy sat in class, wondering what the good part of Christmas was. He was paying attention, yet he was not. He was deep in thought. He didn't feel he needed to pay attention, after all, it was science, and he is a genius.

_What good is Christmas if I'll never get the one thing that I want? _He thought to himself.

_What good is looking in my heart for desire if my heart is made of metal?_ He groaned in his mind. Then the bell rang.

The boy had to be the only stooge to Christmas in the entire school. He hated it, how everyone told him "Merry Christmas!" patting him on the back, every time they passed him in the halls of his school.

"Tony, why do you hate Christmas so much?" His friends constantly asked him, hoping for an answer. All they ever got so far was, "Because I have my reasons." They would groan, and plead with him. They told him how he already had a red shirt, shoes, and suit of armor. Not to mention his winter coat was red. They told him that had to mean something. He simply told them it's because he likes red. It's plain and simple.

The girl, his female friend, seems to get into his head pretty easily. He thinks of how she says red is her favorite color, and he thinks of how it's all over him. He thinks of how easily he can make the wrong choice, go down the wrong path. He wonders if he did that long ago.

The three are walking home, when the red boy finally decides to tell his friends why he hates Christmas.

"Well, back before my mother—well, you guys know—me, my dad and my mom were a normal, happy family. We had a great time on Christmas—until about 13 years ago, Christmas Eve. My mother took me on a walk through the city while my dad was at work. We were at fourth street. She started to tell me the story of 'The Miracle On Fourth Street". The next I know, I'm standing on the street, all alone. I look around for my mother and then I see her, she's standing there, in front of me. When I go to hug her, she disappears. I didn't know what to do, I was only three—" The boy tried to go on, but needed to pause, to keep from crying. It still hurt.

"When I landed on my butt, on fourth street, new years eve, all I could do was cry. The police, they came, and they didn't know what to do. So I ran from them. I ran home, to find my dad. I was smart, no doubt, so I found my way home, weakly and pathetically. I walked into Stark International, and had someone bring me to my dad. When I got to him, I was alone, cold, crying, and trying my best to explain to him while crying, what had happened. From that day, I have always hated Christmas." He finished, getting deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Wow…..so your mom just disappeared, right on the spot?" The girl asked, in awe. Now she knew why it was so hard for him to get through. Both his parents-taken tragically from him at a young age. Poor guy.

"Well, can you just try to like it, for me?" The girl pleaded to him. The boy sighed. His other friend stepped to the side for a moment.

"Fine, but only because I would do anything for you." They stood at fourth street, indeed having a miracle.

**Whoo! That was awesome. This story is probably gonna take a little longer, since im writing another one at the same time. Reviews please!(I know they'll all be awesomeee)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Pepper smiled. She had indeed heard of _the miracle on Fourth Street._

"Thanks, Tony." Rhodey came back to his two friends. They continued walking. As soon as they got back, Tony decided to start fixing his lab. Rhodey didn't want to take part, so he went to do some homework. Pepper, however, went to help him.

"I can't believe it's this bad in here. This is terrible. How are you going to fix all of this?" Pepper kept reminding him.

"I don't know where to start. I don't even know if I can do this." Tony sighs, and decides to start at the entrance to his lab. Then he gasped, remembering something.

"Oh, no. Oh, this isn't good. I need to get in here. NOW." Tony tried frantically to open the door, but the keypad was melted.

"What? What's wrong?" Pepper asked, worried.

"My charger, it's in there, I need to see what damage it took." Finally he got the door opened, by reprogramming it, and ran inside to search frantically for his charger. Suddenly, he stopped….

Then Fell. He needed to charge his heart, and soon, or he was going to die. But he didn't have the energy to get up.

"Pepper, you have to—look…for….it…..NOWW…." He pointed to a spot on the dashboard by his computer. Pepper ran over to the spot he was pointing to and ripped everything up, looking for it. Then, she saw something glowing, in some kind of drawer underneath. A fire-proof drawer? Smart. She opened it, but it needed a pass code.  
"TONY! WHAT'S THE PASSCODE?" She gasped.

"Stark……T02…." Tony said, gasping for air. Pepper got tears in her eyes and entered the pass code. She grabbed the charger and ran over to the ailing Tony.

"Here!" But she soon realized he didn't have the energy to remove his shirt, so she did it for him. She didn't hesitate to reach for his shirt, and then carefully, but quickly remove it. She then plugged it into his chest. Tony lay there, on the floor, Pepper looming over him, on her knees. She wanted to cry, but kept her wet tears away from Tony's chest. She then felt a warm hand patting her face.

"Tony? Oh, Tony! Thank goodness you're okay!" She put her hand on her face, where his was. Then Tony sat up, and discovered that they were very close to each other. They just sat there, looking into each other's eyes, lost in them. They started to move closer, but then Tony tried to stand up, but couldn't, so Pepper got up and helped him.

"Th-thanks, Pepper…" Tony stammered, nervous of how close they just were. Never had he been that close. The two moved on with their day, and the three met back up at school.

The next day, at school, everyone was in the Christmas mood. There were decorations everywhere. There was a tree in every teacher's room, there was tinsel and Christmas lights all over the halls, and the lockers were painted green over the last weekend. There was one decoration, however, that a two certain people did not see. It was located at the top of the stairs that lead to the roof. Tony was going to the roof to get some peace and quiet study time for a test he had. Pepper wanted somewhere to go for lunch. They happened to go at the same time. When they were at the top of the stairs, Pepper noticed something. She saw green and white above her head, in a small bundle. It was mistletoe……and she was right underneath it, with Tony.

Tony soon wondered what she was looking at, and looked up. He almost spat out the hot chocolate he was drinking.

"Uhh…..wh—what's that?" Tony struggled to ask, even if he knew perfectly well what it is.

"A….a mistletoe. You know what those are." Pepper explained, nervous.

"Uhh…..does that mean we……we're kind of supposed to….uhhh…." The poor boy could barely speak.

"Kiss?" Pepper finished, plain and simple.

"Yeah, uhh, that….you know, i-i…you don't have t-to….." Tony tried to make it feel a little better, but failed.

"Well…..i don't want to break the promise of a Christmas decoration…….." Pepper knew that wasn't the reason. She really, really wanted this. **(A/N: you know, I could end the chapter right here, but I'm not that mean.)**

"W-well, I guess…." They stopped talking, (finally,) and slowly moved in closer, until they both silently decided to get it over with, and kissed.

It felt like pure magic, in both of their eyes. Neither wanted it to stop. It took them what seemed like forever to let go, but when the bell rang, they stopped, and went to class. Both tried to avoid the other, feeling it was awkward that it felt so good. Rhodey was suspicious, but decided to leave it alone for now.

**Wheewww! That was goo-ooooooddd (: the next chapter will probably be way better than this loser chapter…..wow it's so bad. Anyways, see yall next chapter!! (:**

**Keep readin!! (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey peoples! I have decided to stop putting "Chapter ___" in my stories….it's getting old.**

Tony sat in his last bell of the day, math, which was always as easy as science for him. He wasn't really paying attention, though. His mind was stuck on earlier that day. _They kissed._ He couldn't believe it………. But at the same time, he knew it felt like he really, really wanted to. That was why he kissed her.

Over in the English room…..

Pepper did not have her mind in class either. She was thinking of how Tony was willing to kiss her. She knew she liked him, but then she started to like Gene. She quickly pushed his devilish name out of her head. The bell rang, and Pepper darted for her locker, then home. Tony tried to do the same, but he had to wait for Rhodey. Then was when Rhodey decided to ask Tony what was wrong.

"Dude, what's with you and Pepper today? You guys have been avoiding each other since your free period." He asked, curiously, while putting his books away.

"Oh, what? OH, uhh, that……well, the thing is—uhh….we, uhhh….well let's go home, I still have to find Gene and all." Tony started to walk off, Rhodey trailing behind him. Rhodey smiled. He knew what happened, it was in the way Tony tried not to say it.

Later, Tony tried calling Gene's cell phone. Then, someone came on the other end.

"What do you want, Stark?" Gene picked up the other end.

"I want to know where my father is." Tony spat out, plain and simple. Gene stood over someone's prison cell, and started to answer.

"Ahh. I thought you would ask that. I'll make you a deal, Stark." Gene said, staring at the prisoner in the overlooked cell.

"Tony…don't!" The person in the cell whispered.

"Gene, I swear. I will come over there and hurt you so bad that you won't know what hit you if he's not ok!" Tony threatened, with high anger. He agreed to the plan, and hung up.

Tony stood in the melted laboratory, hands on the dashboard of his computer. He was so mad, he felt like he was going to explode.

"Tony, man, you need to calm down." Rhodey tried to sooth his friend's anger.

"Fine, fine. I'll calm down, while my father sits in GENE'S POSSESION!" Tony tried not to yell.

"I understand, dude, but you have to relax…" Rhodey said, weakly.

"Tony, come on. Calm down…"A girl's voice came into the lab. Tony looked up to see Pepper. He sighed.

"Sorry, guys. It's just hard to deal with the fact that my dad is alive." Tony went over to his charger, and took off his shirt, so he could plug it in. He took a seat next to the melted table, on the edge. He took a deep breath, and his charger beeped. It was done charging. He put his shirt back on, and got in the armor.

"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked, curious.

"Just an errand. There's something I need to do." Tony said, closing his face mask, and flying off.

**Wheew! Kayy that was a good chapterrrrr. Well It may seem like Pepperony can be around eachother, but wait till the next chapter! Wheeww, it's gonna be awesome. Kay revieewwss! (:**


	4. Chapter 4

**Pepper: Hey awesome people! I'm here to sa—**

**Me: OH, NO you are NOT. That would be MY job.**

**Pepper: Aawww….party pooper. *pouts***

**Me: Thank you, I know I am. Anyways, I kinda forgot what my summary was, so it's gonna go better with it now if it didn't before. (:**

Tony landed at Gene's "house", bursting through a wall, carelessly.

"OK, I'm here. Let's get this over with. What do you want?" Tony demanded, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

_Don't do this Gene…..he's your friend. Stop using him. _A voice in Gene's head tried to convince him.

"NO….no….no way….I won't stop…" Gene murmured to himself.

"Excuse me?" Tony responded, confused.

"N-nothing. Let's just get on with it." Gene lead Tony into a dark room, to make the deal. The room instantly lit up when the two walked in. Gene stopped Tony at a table with 5 rings on it.

"Here's the deal. Don't get any ideas, leave the rings on the table. See, after our little journey to The Temple of Fing Fang Foom, **(A/N: I don't know what the temple is called, so for now I call it that.)** I came back here, and got mad. When I tossed my rings across the floor, they formed a map. I set up the rings just the way they landed, leaving one little piece out, so I could show you." Gene reached to put the last ring in place. They formed a line, and the last one hit the floor. The map of earth popped up, and the locations of five more rings popped up on the map. Tony was amazed. He stood there with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. He closed it, even though he knew he was wearing a mask. He opened the mask.

"There's 10 rings?" Tony asked, shocked. Suddenly, a voice came on his intercom.  
"Tony, man, what are you doing?" Rhodey piped in.

"Nothing, Rhodey, get off the com systems." Rhodey simply did as he was told, because he did _**not**_ want to get on Tony's bad side right now.

"Well, what do you want me to do now?" Tony asked, getting to the point.

"I want you to duplicate this hologram for me. After all, you're the genius, not me." Gene commanded, almost politely. Tony stopped to think about the task. He certainly didn't want Gene to find all ten rings, but he wanted his dad back. He didn't really want to fight, either. Tony turned his armor I back to a backpack, and answered.

"Fine, I'll do it. But you have to _swear_ you'll give me my dad back." Tony demanded, accepting such a simple task.

"Fine, whatever, he's no use to me now." Gene accepted terms.

"Well, assuming you're not lying, I'll need those rings set up exactly the way they are, but in a laboratory. And since you blew mine up, that means you'll have to help me get a new one. Or one I can use temporarily." Tony demanded once again. Gene got an idea.

"Well is demanding use of Stark International's lab good enough for you?" Gene asked, smiling.

"Fine, whatever." Then Gene nodded, put his rings back on, and told Tony to go to Stark International. Tony got back into Iron Man, and flew there, behind Gene. When they got there, Gene demanded use of their lab by Tony Stark. Tony appeared in the building as Tony, not Iron Man. He explained that he was doing something for the Mandarin, and under pressure, Stane let him. Tony walked into his old lab, and asked for the rings.

"Put them the way they just were, and then leave me to my work." Tony spoke another demand. Gene did as told quietly. Tony went to work on a hologram. About a half an hour later, Tony was done. He handed Gene a small round contraption, and showed him how to use it. He thanked Tony, and the two went back to Gene's little temple (thing….don't know what it's called….) and Gene showed Tony the cell with his father in it. Tony dared himself to look in. When he saw who was sitting there, he was shocked.

"Dad?" Tony asked, flatly. Gene unlocked the caged door, and allowed Howard to walk out. Gene walked away and told Tony to leave anytime.

"Son!" Howard shouted back. The two stared for a minute, and then hugged. Tony offered to bring his father to his room, and the two walked out.  
As Tony was walking down the cold December street, he thought he saw someone following him from the other side of the street. He could only see the person between passing cars, so he wasn't sure who it was. He decided to ignore it and keep walking. Tony lead Howard to the door, but as he was reaching to open it, someone else managed to beat him to it…..

"Tony, where have you be--..." Mrs. Rhodes started, but never finished, because of who she noticed was with him.

"Well, it's kind of a long story…you might want to sit down first." Tony agreed to explain the day's events. The three went to go sit down, joined by Rhodey.

"Well, it all started yesterday, when…" Tony started off. About ten minutes later, he finally finished.

"….And here we are." Tony finished.

"So you mean to tell me that your friend, Gene, is evil. And that he kidnapped your father, making you believe he died. _And_ that you built a _suit of super powered armor_?" Roberta asked. Tony confirmed with a nod of his head. Roberta nodded. The room fell silent, and Tony got up and walked over to his room. Howard was sitting on Tony's bed, looking at the extra charger Tony installed to his room.

"Tony, why do you have this big of a charger?" Howard asked, confused.

"Oh, that. Well, when the plane crashed…………

**Flashbackkkk!!! Wheoo (:**

_Tony walked over to a steel door, and entered the password for it. Before the door even had a chance to open, Tony saw a bright flash of light. He held his arms up in front of him, and backed up. He tried to run, but he was too late. The plane then exploded. When all the smoke cleared, Tony was laying on the ground, hurt. He reached towards a red metal arm, and slipped it over his own arm. He pushed himself towards that same detached door, and opened it. He reached inside it to find a matching red helmet, and put it on, with the rest of the armor._

"_St-stark 02." Tony weakly stated into his armor. _

"_Detects damage to user's heart. Treatment in progress._

"_Comp—computer….ta-" Tony squeezed his eyes for a moment._

"_Take me to Rhodey." He completed, then the armor flew off._

_About 2 hours later, Tony was in a room made of all Iron steel. Multiple robot arms are jabbing and drilling at a metal disk on Tony's chest._

**Flashback endddd! Whoooottt(:**

"Oh, so you're ok?" Howard commented.

"Yeah, totally normal. I just have to charge my implant when the battery runs low." Tony responded calmly.

"Well, as long as you remember. I guess it's ok with you." Howard accepted.

"Yeah, totally fine."

Later, Howard went to talk to Roberta while Tony went to hang out. Ever since Tony found Gene, he had forgotten about Christmas. Which was ok with him, because he hated Christmas. He walked into a cozy little café and met with Pepper there. They were still waiting for Rhodey to come.

"So, what happened after you left?" Pepper questioned, curiously.

"Well, I went to Gene's temple..place..and told him to give me my dad back. So after doing one little task for him, I now have my dad back." Tony explained.

"OH MY GOSH! Really?! That's awesome! Wait…then why aren't you like, I don't know, doing anything with him now?" Pepper responded, half yelling.

"Calm down, Pepper! I already did that. I told him the whole story, and now he's talking to Rhodey's mom for a while. Besides, just because I get my dad back doesn't mean I want to spend all my time with him. I still like to see you too." Tony smiled.

"Well I'm glad you're not crazy obsessed like you usually are. I still want to see your face too…" Pepper smiled. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Uhh, Tony…..wh-what…or, well I-I kinda…did you, or…" Pepper choked. She wanted to say it, but she didn't know how.

"What?" Tony responded, confused.\

"Well I kinda….uhh……wanted to talk about that, uhh, the whole mistletoe thing from the other day….." Pepper managed to get that out. Her face went red, as did Tony's.

"Oh…th-that….well, uhh, talk I guess?" Tony answered, nervous.

"W-well……..did you really want to or….was it, you know, just because it's a Christmas thing?" Pepper asked, intensely nervous.

"Oh….that…well, uhh…well you know i hate Christmas, so, you know…." Tony answered, yet without answering.

"Yah, hehe, uhh, me too……." They both seemed to kiss just because they wanted to.

"So, you _wanted _to kiss me?" Tony asked, wondering.

"Well, I think you wanted to kiss me too. So, doesn't that mean we…" Pepper responded, cleverly.

"That we like eachother?" Tony managed to say it perfectly.

"Yeah…that…well, **I do….**" Pepper responded, shyly.

"W-well, I do too…" Tony said, nervous. They both decided to smile. Then, Rhodey walked in the doors of the café and joined his friends.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Rhodey asked, joining.

"Oh, uhh, nothing, just, you know, talking, and stuff." Tony answered, sort of nervously. He blushed, as did Pepper. They then decided to proceed with the day.

***stands up and throws popcorn at my computer screen* Aahhh!! *spits out drink* What a chapterrrr. So awesomeee (: well I noticed that my summary said a mysterious person is following, so that will go more in-depth next chapter (: k reviewwsss!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey all you people! Wow, I guess it's been a really long time since i wrote for this story. I didn't know it was going to be this long! This is chapter 5. So far it's one of my longest stories!**

Tony was walking to school with Rhodey. He didn't want to go to school anymore. He just wanted to spend time with his dad. He was miserable and tired.

"Come on, Tony, relax. Will you perk up? You'll have plenty of time to spend with your dad after school." Rhodey tried, but failed.

"Well, how can I? My dad wanted me to learn what he couldn't teach me. If he's still alive, then doesn't that mean I can stop going to school now? I really don't need it." Tony complained.

"We don't know that. We'll just have to sort that out later. Now come on, we're almost there." Rhodey rushed. They just made it to their first bell class when the bell rang for class to start.

"Good morning, class. Today we're going to learn about Mozart." The drama teacher started off. She went deep into the lesson and Tony barely paid attention to the words being spoken. He could only pay attention to his own, the ones that were floating in his head. There were just two things in his head:_ What will happen to me now that I have my dad back? Will I move out of Rhodey's and go back to our old house? _And the one that seemed to capture more of his attention.

_What's going to happen between me and Pepper?_ The thoughts danced through his head, and didn't seem like they were going to leave. They were stuck in his head, and he memorized the words they were feeding him:_ you love her. You need her. You promise her, always and forever._ He groaned. Get those thoughts out of his head. But no—don't. They're nice. He knew he told her that he liked her. And she liked him back. So what's wrong? Isn't that all there is to it? Why does this seem so hard to do, but so easy at the same time? Tony kept thinking, but then he bumped into someone in the hall walking out of class—Pepper. Oops. _I forgot to get back to reality. _He mentally slapped himself. _Stop. Talk to her already!_

"Hey Pepper. Sorry, didn't see you there." Tony explained, calmly.

"Oh, that's ok, I wasn't uhh…what's it called…connected to reality. Deep in thought." Pepper explained.

"Yeah, me too…." Rhodey smiled and rolled his eyes as he watched his two friends chatted.

"Well, I actually want to make it to class on time, so have fun." Rhodey stated, walking away. Tony and Pepper had their free period, and, as always, they spent it on the roof. Tony went to the bathroom and told Pepper he'd see her up there. Just then, two girls walked up to Pepper.

"Hey, lovebird, going to the roof to make out with your boyfriend?" The first girl asked, teasing.

"Wh-what? I don't have a boyfriend, Eliza…" Pepper shot back, confused.

"Oh, come on, Pepper. It's so obvious that you and Stark like each other. No need to hide it." Eliza told her, playing know-it-all.

"What? I-I don't….he doesn't…" Pepper said, confused.

"Yes you do. It's so obvious that everyone in school is saying that you guys go to the roof for your free period so you can make out. You're lucky that I can make them all believe something else, Pepper Potts. What do you want me to say?" Eliza stated, smartly. Pepper sighed.

"Fine, whatever. Just tell them that me and Tony are just best friends. Nothing more, nothing less." Pepper explained, lying to herself. Then she walked away to go to the roof. Tony walked out of the bathroom, and Eliza, with her friend, walked past him, spitting out one simple word at him.

"Hey, lovebird." She said, smiling.

"What?" Tony asked, but too late. They were already turning the corner. He shrugged his shoulders and walked to the roof.

"Hey, Pepper." Tony greeted. He brought his head to the view of a building's rooftop across from the school to see a mysterious black figure. He couldn't find the right words to say, so he just stared at it. The figure noticed Tony staring at it, and ran away to hide. Obviously it didn't want to be seen, and had something to do with either him or Pepper. It was probably with him, since he was Iron Man, and the figure was looking at him. He moved from his spot at the door to a seat on the roof.

"What were you just looking at?" Pepper asked, curious.

"Nothing, it was nothing, forget it." Tony answered, nervous. Pepper shrugged her shoulders and engaged in conversation.

"Well, uhh, Tony, I don't think we finished that talk at the café the other day…." Pepper told him, in her way of asking him if they were more than friends.

"In the café? OH! That…uhh…well….what else is there to say?" Tony jumped at the memory of saying that he liked her, and continued the topic.

"Well, usually, when a girl and a boy say they like each other, they sorta…" The two were standing face to face on the roof now. Tony realized what she was trying to say.

"Uhh…ohh….well….do you, uhh, you know, want to?" Tony asked, nervously.

"Well…..yeah…." Pepper responded.

"Y-yeah, uhh…..well, sure, yeah…" Tony responded. Pepper knew exactly what he meant. The two stood there, silent. Slowly they moved in closer, closer, closer, until they were kissing. For real this time, though.

"So does this mean we're going out now?" Pepper asked, happy.

"Well sure, If you want." Tony responded, happy as well.

They settled it, and held hands as they sat on the rooftop. Tony sat up correctly, holding Pepper's hand, and Pepper sat next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. They sat next to each other, there on the roof, but Tony's mind went somewhere else.

Who was that black figure?

**Whewww!!!! That was awesomeeee (: oh boy, I can't wait to see the new episodes of season three (: Im soooo exited! (: well reviews please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wheooo! Chapter 6. I'm gonna try to wrap up this story in a few chapters. Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyy! (:**

Tony walked out of his last class of the day, and went to his locker. No one was with him yet, and he had to wait for Rhodey to get extra help in drama class. He didn't know what else he was going to do while he waited, but he knew he would find something to do. He got to his locker and opened it. But when he did, he found a purple envelope sitting on top of his pod. He picked it up and saw that it had _Tony _written across the middle, in fancy cursive. He opened it, and inside it there sat a note. Someone had sent Tony a message. But who?

_Dear Tony,_

_I have been following you for the past week, and I see very interesting things lying inside you. I see that you are not living with your father. I will investigate, because you cannot tell me. You cannot meet me, not just yet. I know you are wondering who this is, and I can't tell you that. It's classified, so far. I will give you one hint, though; you have not seen me since you were about 3 or 4 years old. I know it seems like a long time ago, Tony, but you are a smart young boy. I know you will put the pieces together. If you do happen to figure out my identity, then you may not tell anyone. Not unless you trust that they keep it to themselves. Not unless you trust them completely. I really do hope to see you and your father again soon. I will be following you, Tony. Do not be alarmed, I am nothing close to a threat. I am just protecting you. I know that you are hurt, and I am here to make sure that you are okay. I don't know why you are hurt, but I do know that you are as clever and creative as me to defend yourself. Combining my- I mean-your mother's- creativity and clever fast-acting skills with your father's brain, I know that you can protect yourself, but I just want to get to know you more._

_This is all I can say for now. You will hear more and more information later in the days._

_Notoriously and anonymously,_

_Someone you will soon know._

Tony read the note over and over. He did not know what it meant. Then it clicked in his mind. This was from the person I saw on the roof the other day. The mysterious black figure. It was obviously a girl. Or a woman, depending on age. It sounded like an intelligent, older woman. He saw her when he was 3 or 4? He tried to think back to that age. He decided that he would save it and show Howard and Rhodey. That was later, though. He still had to wait for Rhodey. He went to go wait outside, because he knew Rhodey wouldn't be much later. He said it would take long, and he could start walking home If he wanted to. He decided that that's what he would do. He would just go socialize with his dad. He had been wanting to do that all day, right? Now was his chance. So he started on his way home.

When he got there, he was sitting at the kitchen table next to Howard, watching him read the note.

"Weird, isn't it?" Tony asked when Howard was finished reading.

"Yes, it is. I haven't seen anything like it." Howard responded, curiously.

"I know. Me neither. Should we ask a handwriting expert? Or my computer can analyze it." Tony asked.

"What, that thing in your room? That can't analyze this." Howard responded.

"No, the one in my lab. One that I made. Come on, I'll show you." Tony confessed, waving his father to follow him. The two went off to Tony's burnt, ruined lab.

When they got there, Howard looked surprised to see everything burned down.

"Uhh…yeah, long story. It got blown up, but I'm pretty sure the computer still works. If it doesn't, im sure I can fix it up in no time." Tony explained.

"Oh. Well then, carry on…" Howard said, still surprised. How did his own son get in enough trouble to get a laboratory blown up? Howard wondered.

Tony came to a door similar to the one there was in the vault. The only difference was that this one was a silver color. Tony punched a few numbers into a keypad, and the door opened. They walked inside, and Tony looked like he wanted to cry because everything was ruined. He tried to push the feeling aside and went to the computer.

"So this is your lab, and this is your computer? Nice, nice." Howard asked, complimenting his son's work.

"Thanks, I made everything in here. Except, not the burnt parts….I didn't do that." Tony responded, typing in some things into his computer. Then he fed the letter into the computer, and the computer started speaking. "_Analyzing…..please wait._" This astonished Howard.

"Your computer can talk?" Howard asked. That was a step up.

"Yeah. Pretty cool." Tony answered. The computer finished analyzing the note and fed it back to Tony.

"_Finished analyzing. Printing results." _The computer piped back. A piece of paper popped out of the wall, and Tony grabbed it. When he read it, his eyes went wide. Howard took the paper from his son and read what it said. He too, was shocked.

Tony read the results aloud.

"It was…..mom?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey peoples! Wow….do I say that all the time? Oh well. It can be my logo or something. Anyways, that was an awesome cliffhanger. It is now time to continue to chapter 7! Whoot. This is the longest story I have ever written! Wheoooo (: If Nicktoons Network saw this idea, it would be a 2 hour movie!! That is so awesome. Well anyways, onto my story.**

Tony stood there, looking at the piece of paper. This wasn't possible. She's gone. She's been gone. She left earth. A long time ago. So why did this piece of paper say that she had written him a letter?

"No….no, that's not possible. The doctors even declared her dead…..how can this be happening? How?" Tony ranted, over and over. He couldn't say anything else. His hands went numb. He couldn't feel his fingers. The paper fell to the floor. Tony couldn't feel his legs. He nearly fell. What was happening? He needed to charge, his battery was almost out.

"Tony!! What's wrong!? Tony!" Howard shouted, worried. Tony couldn't hear the words slipping from his mouth.

"Need….to…charge…." Tony pointed to his charger, weakly. Howard realized what was happening, and handed his son his charger. Tony weakly and barely removed his red shirt and plugged in his charger. He remained lying there. He slowly regained energy. He had to admit, that was good timing. He was so shocked he almost died. Tony slowly stood up, and unplugged his charger. It only takes a minute or two to fully charge his heart.

"Better. Sorry for the freak out. It happens sometimes." Tony explained, gaining full energy again. The two went to show Rhodey. On their way, Tony noticed the same black figure stalking him from a distance, watching his every move. He stopped, and then stopped Howard and pointed to the black figure. It didn't move. The two slowly started moving towards it. Every time the boys took a step closer, the shadow took a step back. They finally got close enough to the shadow to see it's face. It _was_ a woman. The face looked oddly familiar. Then everything in Tony's mind clicked. It was his mother. She was back. She never died. He didn't know exactly what happened to her, but the words coming from his mouth next were soft, almost a whisper.

"Mom?" Tony asked, catching the woman's attention.

"Eliza, is that you?" Howard asked, in the same way his son just had. A memory came back in Tony's head.

**FLASHBACK!! (:**

_A young boy, about the age of 3, ran around a grassy green park. The boy was wearing a red t-shirt with denim overalls. He had little red sneakers on, and he was laughing. A man with a white long-sleeve shirt and jeans sat on a park bench with his wife, watching their son run around. The woman had beautiful brown hair that stopped at her collarbone. She was wearing a blue v-neck blouse with a white cami underneath it. She had dark denim jeans and blue and white striped knitted boots on over her pant legs. The couple was smiling at their young, energetic young boy. The woman decided that she was going to go get them a snack. She left her husband and son alone, there in Central Park, NYC. The boy waved good-bye to his mother, knowing she would be back. He started running around again. The mother made one last decision before getting the food. She wanted to take a picture with her son. She grabbed a camera out of her purse, which was sitting next to her husband, and told her son to come over to her so they can take a picture. She bent down and hugged her son with her free arm. With her other arm, she held the camera out in front of them and snapped a picture. She kissed her son's forehead and left to get a snack. Little had the husband and his son know that she would never return. They went looking for her, but could not find her. The little boy started to cry. He cried for his mommy. Over and over, they cried for her, but she never came back. The husband reported a missing person to the police, but they couldn't find her either. The little boy could only remember the picture she took of them, and as he got older, he decided to print it and frame it._

***SNIFFLE* FLASHBACK END!! *SNIFFLE***

"And that's exactly what happened to her. Now I think she's back. And when I get the chance to talk to her again, I'm going to ask her just what happened that day." Tony explained to his friends, looking at the picture of his mother holding him. He couldn't stop thinking about how much he missed her. He remembered crying for her to come back, come back. He remembered how she never came back. He tried to hold back the tears that wanted to flow from his face.

"Wow. Tony, I had no idea, that is so sad….I'm so sorry…." Pepper responded, softly.

"That's ok. But I have to find her. I have to know what happened, I just have to. If you excuse me, I know exactly how I'm going to do that." Tony got up from his bed and retrieved his Iron Man backpack. He walked out the front door, and heard his dad and Roberta talking about living and working arrangements. He ignored it and pressed the button. He soon transformed into Iron Man, and flew off. Rhodey and Pepper rushed out the door behind him, but they were too late. Tony was gone, flying through the air.

Soon after, Tony was stopped, mid-air, by someone who seemed pretty angry. Whiplash. He wanted revenge. Away, the two battled in the skies. But Whiplash had a new weapon. The two took it to a rooftop, and Whiplash had Tony pinned to the ground. His metal, devious whips slowly pierced through the red armor, and Tony couldn't fight back. The whips were digging through Tony's chest plate and reaching his heart…..he heard one last scream from the rooftop they were on.

"TONY! NO!" A girl's voice shrieked. Rhodey and Pepper had found where they were.

Then, everything in Tony's world went black.

**OH MY TOASTED CHEESE! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? WILL TONY LIVE? WILL HE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BELOVED MOMMY? WILL I EVER SHUT UP? That was awesome! See ya next chapterrr (: reviewsss! (:**


	8. Chapter 8

**OH MY COOKIES! LET'S SEE IF TONY LIVES OR NOT! I'M SO EXITED! (: Like wow, chapter 8.**

**OH HEY! I didn't start out by saying 'Hey peoples!' amazerringg. (:**

Pepper wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be a superhero too, so she could kick some butt. She was angry. She ran over to the torn red armor, and knelt down besides it. Rhodey followed.

"Tony? Are you okay? Tony, come on, you can do it, you're ok….no..Tony!" Pepper pleaded with him. She cried, and she cried. Then she felt a soft, yet cold, metallic touch to her face. Soon she realized it was him, wiping away her tears.

"Relax, I'm okay. I'm fine." Tony said, softly cooing her. She held on to his hand as they watched Whiplash escape. Tony tried to get up, but the two didn't let him. He was too weak now. There was nothing that could be done. He was gone. Forget it. Right when Tony was about to get up and let his new girlfriend, and his best friend help him home, someone else came up to him. It was the black shadow that Tony had seen face-to-face earlier that day. But something was different this time. It-she, approached Tony this time. And she spoke.

"Anthony. Are you okay?" The voice spoke, softly and calmly.

"Umm….yeah, I'm fine. But who are you?" Tony responded, with his own question.

"I will explain everything later. For now we must go somewhere else and talk." The voice answered, taking her hood of her head to reveal a very vaguely familiar face. They all went to take Tony's armor off and sit down to explain everything. After they were all settled into Tony's burnt and destroyed lab, the woman started talking. Howard was there with them now.

"It all started long ago, when Tony was just three." The woman explained, going in-depth to her story. She explained where she disappeared to.

"I was soon swept away, by a mysterious hand that I couldn't see. I told them to let me go. I told them I couldn't be here, that I had a family to take care of. They didn't care. No one seemed to care. Soon after, they locked me in a prison cell. They had taken over an old abandoned prison and locked innocent victims in the emptied cells so they could gain what they wanted from them. You see, back then, I worked for the FBI, I was an investigator, just like your dad, I know," She explained, looking at Pepper.

"They wanted some secret information about someone I was investigating from me, but I knew I couldn't tell. They said just tell us and you can return to your family. I knew it would be the wrong way to go, and I knew the person I was spying on didn't have much time left, so I waited to hear the news of the death to tell them. Unfortunately, he didn't die until last week. After I told them what they wanted to know, they knew he was dead, so kept me for punishment. I managed to escape." She explained, finishing.

"So it is you!" Tony responded, happy. Pepper said that she had to go home, because her dad wanted her home. Rhodey's mom called him home and decided to let Tony catch up with his family. The three caught up, while Roberta told her son that Tony could now return to his dad's house, and won't be going to school anymore. Slowly, piece by piece, Tony's life went back to normal. (Well, Tony Stark normal.)

**The End! (:**

**Well that was cool but short! Oh well. Reviewwwws! (:**


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